My country, Japan, belongs to the temperate zone and has four distinct seasons throughout the year. Since ancient times, we Japanese have valued the culture of enjoying the subtle changes of the four seasons. From lowlands to alpine zones, there are many kinds of wildflowers that bloom vigorously and vigorously throughout the four seasons.
In this collection, I added kanji, one of the main Japanese characters, to Japanese wildflowers to express the names of the wildflowers in the works. Kanji is a writing system created in ancient China's Yellow River civilization more than 4000 years ago. The number of characters is said to be more than 100,000 characters, and it is characterized by an extremely large number of characters. It is believed that it was brought to Japan from China more than 1,500 years ago, and began to be used around the 4th to 6th centuries.
We Japanese have slowly and successfully incorporated kanji into the Japanese language over a long period of time. Kanji has enriched the world of the Japanese language, and can be said to be a splendid language culture that we Japanese are proud of. I would be happy if people all over the world could learn more about Japan through my works that fuse the natural wildflowers of Japan with the traditions of the Japanese language.
This time the theme is Suruga Jorou Hototogisu ”駿河上臈杜鵑"
The Suruga joro hototogisu is a Japanese hototogisu endemic to Japan, and grows naturally only in a very limited area around Mt. Fuji.
"駿河 Suruga" is one of the former old countries, belongs to the Tokaido, and corresponds to the Chubu region of Shizuoka prefecture.
The word "上臈 joro" means a person of high rank, such as a lady or a high priest.
The name “杜鵑 hototogisu” comes from the fact that it resembles the pattern on the belly of a wild bird, the hototogisu.
The place where this plant grows naturally is a steep cliff along the valley, and it is in a rather difficult place where people can not easily get close. It seems to have been given the name Jōro, which means high dignity and high rank, due to the atmosphere of standing calmly and quietly in a secluded place. When I went to photograph this plant, I had to be very careful because there were many dangerous spots along the way. When I actually saw this plant, I was captivated by its mysterious beauty. I hope that this plant will remain forever.
